NVIDIA Releases GeForce GTX 480M, World's Fastest Notebook GPU

[btarunr]

NVIDIA made its GeForce GTX 480M GPU official today. The DirectX 11 compliant GPU is based on the GF100 core and packs all the features of its desktop counterpart, such as decentralized hardware tessellation, next-generation CUDA and DirectCompute 5.0. The GF100 core has a configuration similar to the GeForce GTX 465 desktop GPU. It has three of its four graphics processing clusters (GPCs), and 11 out of 16 streaming multiprocessors (SMs) enabled, giving a CUDA core count of 352. To reduce the overall board footprint, the GPU makes do with a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, with 1 GB of memory.

To make keep up with the electrical constraints of notebooks, the GTX 480M uses much lower clock-speeds than any desktop product that uses GF100. The core is clocked at 425 MHz, shader domain at 850 MHz, and memory at 600 MHz (real) or 2.40 GHz (effective), which gives a memory bandwidth of 76.8 GB/s. As mentioned earlier, the full feature-set of its desktop counterparts is packed with the GTX 480M, including support for NVIDIA 3D Vision, PureVideo HD, PhysX, and CUDA. It can pair with up to two boards of its kind in 2-way SLI. Constraints of the notebook form-factor won't allow any more boards, anyway. The GPU is open to Notebook manufacturers to plan their designs around. NVIDIA claims the GTX 480M to be the fastest notebook GPU. It finds direct competition in the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870, which is based on the 800 stream processor-laden Juniper core.



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[Fourstaff]

Are they high on crack? Oh, its just a GTX 465, nevermind. Move along guys, nothing to see here.

 

[btarunr]

Move along guys, nothing to see here.

Except that it's the fastest notebook GPU.

 

[DanTheMan]

Well at first it was all those videos of the notebook batteries catching on fire - soon we will be able to see all those GTX 480M's going up in smoke. Seeing that oversized warning label on the bottom of the notebook : WARNING - only use for 10 minutes at a time!!

 

[cauby]

at least they're not rebranding some older product now,it's really new.

 

[ToTTenTranz]

Shader clock @ 850MHz and core clock @ 425MHz?

I guess it's time for AMD to release a Cypress-based "Mobility HD5970" for +18" laptops. I wonder what's the point but whatever..

 

[MrMilli]

With these clocks, it's not going to be that much faster than the GTX 285M which in turn is a tad slower than the Radeon Mobility 5870.
I think it'll be just a little bit faster than the RM 5870 but at what cost (if you take silicon size and TDP into account)?

 

[TVman]

so you can play games on your lap and roast nuts at the same time = AWESOME

 

[CounterZeus]

at least they can charge you a lot for a GTX465 ^^

 

[Fourstaff]

Except that it's the fastest notebook GPU.

Title says that

 

[gumpty]

I really wish they'd label the laptop parts with some consistency to their desktop siblings. To me, this does not appear to be the mobile equivalent of the GTX480 - it the mobile equivalent of the GTX465. Yes, it's the fastest they will (probably) produce in the mobile market, but why not just have the GTX465M as their fastest (mobile) part?

This makes me

 

[Benetanegia]

With these clocks, it's not going to be that much faster than the GTX 285M which in turn is a tad slower than the Radeon Mobility 5870.
I think it'll be just a little bit faster than the RM 5870 but at what cost (if you take silicon size and TDP into account)?

We have no idea what the TDP for that chip is. Running at 200 Mhz less can vastly affect the power consumption. Much lower voltages might be needed and I really mean MUCH lower voltages. Fermi consumes that much because it's leaky and 40nm process is very leaky too, Fermi is the sum of both facts. But what applies at 600Mhz++ might not apply at below 500mhz.

Performance wise it looks much faster than both 285M and Mobility 5870, even at 425Mhz, considering that we can say that their desktop counterparts are the 9800GT and 4850 respectively.

I really wish they'd label the laptop parts with some consistency to their desktop siblings. To me, this does not appear to be the mobile equivalent of the GTX480 - it the mobile equivalent of the GTX465. Yes, it's the fastest they will (probably) produce in the mobile market, but why not just have the GTX465M as their fastest (mobile) part?

This makes me

Because the 8 is for the high-end part, and this is the high-end part. The M is there to say it's the mobile part. GTX465 470 etc. etc is not the name of the chip, it's the name of the product and has to be taken like that.

 

[Phxprovost]

Because the 8 is for the high-end part, and this is the high-end part. The M is there to say it's the mobile part. GTX465 470 etc. etc is not the name of the chip, it's the name of the product and has to be taken like that.

no im sorry but the 8 is there so the majority of less then educated consumers goes ZOMGZ THEERZ A 480 IN MAH LAPTOP!!!1 and buys it

 

[MrMilli]

We have no idea what the TDP for that chip is. Running at 200 Mhz less can vastly affect the power consumption. Much lower voltages might be needed and I really mean MUCH lower voltages. Fermi consumes that much because it's leaky and 40nm process is very leaky too, Fermi is the sum of both facts. But what applies at 600Mhz++ might not apply at below 500mhz.

Performance wise it looks much faster than both 285M and Mobility 5870, even at 425Mhz, considering that we can say that their desktop counterparts are the 9800GT and 4850 respectively.

480M's TDP is 100W.
For refrence, RM 5870's TDP is 50W.

The RM 5870 is directly comparable to the Radeon HD 5750.
The 285M is more like a 9800GTX with lower clocks but it's still faster than a 9800GT.

Xbit has a review of a Geforce GTX 465:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/geforce-gtx-465.html

352 shaders - 608Mhz core - 1215Mhz shader - 102.7GB/s mem

If you take the GTX 465 results and take around 30% off then you'll get the idea of how the GTX 480M will perform.
Even if it's faster, at what cost did it become faster?
Double the TDP, 3x bigger silicon, more complex PCB, ...
I mean, you can have a RM 5870 CF in the same power envelope beat the crap of the GTX480M.

 

[DigitalUK]

first screenshot plus picture of beta tester.

 

[naram-sin]

Will work for 20,000 mAh laptop battery.

Btw, EUROCOM will kick ass of any GTX480M laptop with CF 5780 replacement lap's.

 

[Benetanegia]

480M's TDP is 100W.
For refrence, RM 5870's TDP is 50W.

The RM 5870 is directly comparable to the Radeon HD 5750.
The 285M is more like a 9800GTX with lower clocks but it's still faster than a 9800GT.

Xbit has a review of a Geforce GTX 465:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/geforce-gtx-465.html

352 shaders - 608Mhz core - 1215Mhz shader - 102.7GB/s mem

If you take the GTX 465 results and take around 30% off then you'll get the idea of how the GTX 480M will perform.
Even if it's faster, at what cost did it become faster?
Double the TDP, 3x bigger silicon, more complex PCB, ...
I mean, you can have a RM 5870 CF in the same power envelope beat the crap of the GTX480M.

Where did those TDP numbers come from? I've yet to see the TDP of the 480M posted anywhere. Like to post a link? Thank you.

100w TDP is not that much anyway and I have yet to see a laptop where you can game when running from the battery. Most that I've seen don't last more than 0.5 to 1 hour, and honestly 1 hour or half an hour or 15 minutes who cares? In order to game you need to plug it, perdiod and 50w of max difference is not going to change anything. Most of the times the difference would be much smaller and it's even posible that the future laptops with the 480M actually last more/consumes less than with the 5870M because of Optimus technology.

here's a review on the 5870M:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/avadirect-clevo-w860cu-mobility-radeon-hd-5870,2615-11.html

^^30 minutes of battery life. GTX285M wins hands down with 45 mins.

Regarding the silicon, PCB, etc, who the hell cares? Nvidia is the only one that needs to care and they are doing just fine financially. To make a GPGPU instead of a GPU was their choice, and only theirs, and theirs was the risk and you know what? They are doing excelently, they are selling those GPUs and Teslas like hotcakes (add the deal with IBM to that). What matters to us is how much we pay and we pay the same price/performance 99% of the times.

5870 CF would consume a lot more than the single GPU when not gaming and kill the battery in a whisper. You cannot game on the battery, period and I bet that fermi + optimus destroys the 5870M in overall battery efficiency.

 

[phanbuey]

so you can play games on your lap and roast nuts at the same time = AWESOME

 

[a_ump]

yea i'd definitely have to say i think this'll easily steal the crown. True the GTX 285m has higher clocks...but seriously its' only at 576/1500/2040. but don't forget the GTX 480m has(if it is indeed an underclocked GTX 465) 32ROP's compared to the 285m's 16. 480m also has 224 more SPU's(175% more) and faster memory. I'd definitely say those specs will outdo a 285m and HD 5870 mobility, giving nvidia the mobility, single-gpu crown.

 

[eidairaman1]

whole thing The last time Laptop parts matched their Desktop parts was the x1K series.

 

[Wile E]

I'm actually impressed they squeezed this kind of horsepower into a mobile part. I bet with some cooling mods, it would clock like a beast. Give me one in a 15" laptop, please.

 

[HillBeast]

Small dim poorly coloured screens, extreme heat, high costs, rubbish sound, fiddly controls, short lifespan, loud whiny fans, short battery life, high chance of losing it, dropping it, or having it nicked. Those are the reasons I don't buy gaming laptops and would much rather spend my money on a desktop and have a s**t old laptop instead and use that for internet and typing. Thats all a laptop should be. What a stupid idea putting such a powerful chip in a laptop. Only once have I had a laptop with a discrete GPU, and it was constantly overheating. Seriously who needs to game while on a bus or on a plane or whatever. I can't think of a single good use for a gaming laptop.

We have no idea what the TDP for that chip is. Running at 200 Mhz less can vastly affect the power consumption. Much lower voltages might be needed and I really mean MUCH lower voltages. Fermi consumes that much because it's leaky and 40nm process is very leaky too, Fermi is the sum of both facts. But what applies at 600Mhz++ might not apply at below 500mhz.

Like Netburst.

no im sorry but the 8 is there so the majority of less then educated consumers goes ZOMGZ THEERZ A 480 IN MAH LAPTOP!!!1 and buys it

It's just like the Core i7 920M. It is nothing like the REAL 920. It's just a Lynnfield.

 

[Wile E]

Small dim poorly coloured screens, extreme heat, high costs, rubbish sound, fiddly controls, short lifespan, loud whiny fans, short battery life, high chance of losing it, dropping it, or having it nicked. Those are the reasons I don't buy gaming laptops and would much rather spend my money on a desktop and have a s**t old laptop instead and use that for internet and typing. Thats all a laptop should be. What a stupid idea putting such a powerful chip in a laptop. Only once have I had a laptop with a discrete GPU, and it was constantly overheating. Seriously who needs to game while on a bus or on a plane or whatever. I can't think of a single good use for a gaming laptop.



Like Netburst.



It's just like the Core i7 920M. It is nothing like the REAL 920. It's just a Lynnfield.

Lan parties. Having only one computer for work and play, instead of 2. Somebody that spends a lot of time on the road in hotels and such, but still like to game.

Just because you can't find a use for one, does not mean that no uses exist.

 

[MrMilli]

Where did those TDP numbers come from? I've yet to see the TDP of the 480M posted anywhere. Like to post a link? Thank you.

100w TDP is not that much anyway and I have yet to see a laptop where you can game when running from the battery. Most that I've seen don't last more than 0.5 to 1 hour, and honestly 1 hour or half an hour or 15 minutes who cares? In order to game you need to plug it, perdiod and 50w of max difference is not going to change anything. Most of the times the difference would be much smaller and it's even posible that the future laptops with the 480M actually last more/consumes less than with the 5870M because of Optimus technology.

here's a review on the 5870M:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/avadirect-clevo-w860cu-mobility-radeon-hd-5870,2615-11.html

^^30 minutes of battery life. GTX285M wins hands down with 45 mins.

Regarding the silicon, PCB, etc, who the hell cares? Nvidia is the only one that needs to care and they are doing just fine financially. To make a GPGPU instead of a GPU was their choice, and only theirs, and theirs was the risk and you know what? They are doing excelently, they are selling those GPUs and Teslas like hotcakes (add the deal with IBM to that). What matters to us is how much we pay and we pay the same price/performance 99% of the times.

5870 CF would consume a lot more than the single GPU when not gaming and kill the battery in a whisper. You cannot game on the battery, period and I bet that fermi + optimus destroys the 5870M in overall battery efficiency.

I don't know why i bother but here goes:

What i don't understand is that you keep talking about battery life while i didn't say one word about battery life.

1- http://www.nordichardware.com/en/co...om-reveals-geforce-gtx-480m-100w-monster.html
Google?

2- 100w isn't that much? For a laptop?
Never mind the battery life of a laptop having a GTX 480M ... how is one supposed to cool one of these in a laptop. This is going to result in a very fat and loud laptop.
Consider this:
- RM 5870 = 50W
- Mobile Core i7 = 45W
- 65% of laptops are supplied with a 60W adapter
- 30% with a 90W adapter
- 4% with a 125W adapter
- and i guess 1% has a 150W adapter
Now take an i7 + 480M + rest of the system and you're way over 150W. That's just not normal for a laptop! You talk about 50W like it's nothing. Maybe not for a PC but most laptops use less than 50W in total. Even if you compare 100W vs 150W, that will result in a huge difference in the cooling system, especially in a laptop.

But i agree, Optimus is a really nice piece of technology. I like it. But ATI has similar technology already available to manufactures. It's is up to the laptop manufacturers to implement the feature, just like Optimus. http://www.amd.com/us/products/technologies/switchable-graphics/Pages/switchable-graphics.aspx
The thing is, a laptop is designed with the max. TDP in mind. So while Optimus will extend battery life while you're not gaming, it won't make the laptop less bulky.

3- While it's true that nVidia can charge the same amount of money for a 480M as ATI does for a 5870, it just won't. We're talking about 3x the size silicon. 480M will be more expensive period. For reference, Eurocom will charge €285 extra for the 480M over the 280M (or 5870, as it costs as much as the 280M). Do you think 10-15% extra performance is worth €285?
Concerning the PCB, that has nothing to do with nVidia. Making a board with 128-bit tracing is cheaper than a board with 256-bit tracing. Less layers = less money.

4- Well ATI has something called 'Ultra Low Power State' for Crossfire systems. This works only on the 5000 generation cards. When idling, it takes the slave card to an even lower power state than normal idling. This feature is enabled from driver 10.2 onwards. This does alleviate the problem a bit. The second chip adds <10W while idling (if i counted correctly, that puts it at around 22W for both without ATI Switchable Graphics).

But one can't argue about this: when you're in the market for one of these huge, ugly, useless and heavy gaming laptops, you're better of with a Radeon Mobility 5870 CF.
You pay the same amout, the laptop is as heavy, it's as loud, it's as bulky, will eat batteries like there's no tomorrow but it will be 30-40% faster.
I know one thing, i won't buy either.

 

[HillBeast]

Lan parties. Having only one computer for work and play, instead of 2. Somebody that spends a lot of time on the road in hotels and such, but still like to game.

Just because you can't find a use for one, does not mean that no uses exist.

If I'm away from the house, I'd bring a PSP or some movies. At least the PSP won't overheat and if I loose it, it's not $3500 down the drain.